What’s the frequency, Kenneth?

SB 28 – DMV: Personal Information
Bans the Department of Motor Vehicles from including RF chips on driver’s licenses and state ID cards. The DMV has said they have no plans to replace magnetic strips on the back of ID cards with RFID technology. The bill would sunset in 2011.

SB 29 – Pupil Attendance: Electronic Monitoring
Bans the use of RFID for recording students’ attendance at public schools or tracking their whereabouts on campus. The bill would sunset in 2011.
SB 30 – Identity Information Protection Act of 2007
Establishes interim security measures for government agencies using RFID technology for IDs until an advisory committee headed by the California Research Bureau prepares a report that addresses privacy and security concerns next year. The legislature would also have to enact another bill before changing these restrictions. The law exempts certain health, law enforcement, and public safety applications from the ban.

SB 31 – Identification Documents
Criminalizes those who intentionally steal or try to read one’s personal information from their ID card by using radio waves. Offenders could receive a $5,000 fine (penalty fees and assessments would increase the amount threefold), up to a year in County jail, or both. This bill being held in the Senate Public Safety Committee amid prison overcrowding concerns.

SB 362 – Identification Devices: Subcutaneous Implanting
Bans the practice of requiring someone to be implanted with an ID device under their skin and calls for civil penalties when violations occur. The RF industry doesn’t object to the intent of the bill but does disagree with the broad definition of “identification device” in this and other bills.

SB 388 – Privacy: Radio Frequency Identification Tags
Requires companies that sell or provide an RFID tag to provide information about the product’s security features that safeguard personal information. The bill allows for companies to be sued that don’t provide such information.